UTI

I can pitch in as well.

I've been working on bettering my eyesight the past 6 months, with real good results. When I started I was wearing lenses all the time, with -5.00 in strength. Now I pretty often go without lenses, I mostly use my first pair of glasses I ever got (got them when I was 11), and I have -3.50 on the lenses. It's a real interesting journey, Ive confronted a lot of shit in my subconscious along the way. It's amazong what a practical way to subdue emotions it is, to introvert oneself and withdraw the senses. Is anyone doing anything similar? I got triggered to start it after watching one of chunyi lin's students talking about how she lost her glasses (she had the same fault as me). Anyone done it and gotten back to perfect vision? I've read a lot about different methods, but simply cupping the eyes and focusing on releasing emotional tension and envisioning the eyes as healthy seems to be the gist of it.

Have you tried going the reverse way, from under the feet and up into them, connecting with the energy deeper in the body? Or how about starting at one point, like yongquan (in the middle of the foot between the bones of the first and second toe) and letting the breath expand from there? Either way, if you just keep relaxinf and focusing into it, eventually you will break through. What's most important is to find that there's something wrong, then something can be done about it. p.s. I believe we put what we can't deal with emotionally as far away as we can from the heart, so we don't need to see it. So keep "looking" at your feet, and soon you can see them with the heart again.

I know what you mean Before I met my teacher, I had watched some clips of him on youtube. I though, "I'll check it out". When I came to class, from 50 meters away I already knew who was the teacher from a bundle of 12 people moving sporadically, doing tuishou, bagua, xinyi, taiji... There was something otherworldly about his movements that I just couldn't grasp. The "there it is" feeling. I've heard Bruce described as this as well, not just by you. How long have you been doing bagua with Bruce?

I recently started learning bagua from my teacher, so i signed up for the bk frantzis course. I think he says some good stuff, even if his form isnt close to as amazing as my (60 yo) teacher. But i feel it is fuel for my fire. And there's a full refund guarantee if dissatisfied. 何乐而不为? If you're doing it let me know, we can discuss the contents and progress. I'm gonna suckle my teacher for feedback as well Safe travels! -j

Popped back in to see just how this became 16 pages... yeuchs! I don't know if this is already said, but it doesn't have to be long exposure+quick motion or photoshop, it can easily be done with double exposure of the frames. It's an easy trick to create semi-transparent faces, bodies etc. I've done it many times. Same with the flashes of lights and stuff. All these photos can easily be tricked with a good 'ol non-digital system camera. I'd reproduce the effects, but I don't have one anymore. But what's the point in discussing? The only reason it's interesting is because this issue is close to our hearts. If it was pictures of transparent jesus' amidst crowded masses we would just deem it to be photoshopping or something else. Unless we were Christian. Then we'd be discussing it. But probably not for 16 pages.

In that case I will definitely not be diheartened, and keep up my efforts. Thank you! YM, sure there are easier ways to attain this knowledge, but it is at the same time valuable practice for me. Since I study chinese medicine I also study chinese, and I keep up studying classics of chinese medicine (in chinese) on a daily basis. So this is part of my learning process. But, it is true that we do not need to learn spanish to dance salsa.

Well, there is a pdf copy of the chinese version here. For these sort of interesting projects, wouldnt it be reasonable to gather all the available people on taobums and make a joint venture at translating it? I can probably manage a few pages, it isnt that long. Then when the translation work is done, we put it up here and everyone who doesnt speak chinese but has a wide knowledge of neidan and chinese mythology can read through and suggest passages that need revisiting in light of this or that. If we cooperate, this book could be available in english within a month, using basic understanding of classical chinese grammar, and simple tools such as perapera kun and nciku.com. either way, i got the pdf, and if it is interesting enough i will start translating my way through it and perhaps put up what i find in the 道家学说 forum. perhaps there more people can hop on the project, as interest is spurred. then we can publish it on lulu with the proceeds going to the taobums forum

I got ill a while ago, lost my practice completely, all that jing down the drain. Didn't train for a month. ...then, after an hour of meditating three days ago, after a mind-blowing yadda yadda thingy universe exploding in my head sort of thing it's like someone shoves their hands into my lower abdomen. My ldt shakes, bubbles, rocks about, and then 'ssshopp', it's like someone put a grapefruit in my belly. After I was done I felt like I was standing in an eggshell, swear I didn't have a stray thought for two days. What's everyone's take on this? Instant dantian fill, possible or no?

IMO; have sex normally, apart from the ejaculation. Don't try any strange technique or energy stuff. Practice meditation and MCO on a daily basis. Keep it up without ejaculating (meditation is key, keeps sexual organs from overheating and causing nocturnal/unwanted ejaculation) and the big draw will come to you. When it does, just ride the feeling and learn to relax the sexual organs while allowing the energy to rise up through the different passes. patience, control, relaxation.

三人行必有我师. That is to say; Where three walk together, at least one is my teacher.

betwixter and Hagar, thanks for the input! I've been doing the meditation again, trying to ind my way back into it. Not as easy as that time, of course, and every time I get a strong feeling that what I got was a glimpse, like a preview, and that I have to spend more time on the individual stages if I want to get back there. I suppose this expereince could be related to tumo, then, it sounds like it makes sense... I may have to read up on it, or just stop with the need for information and keep meditating... I have already tried to get through clear light of bliss, but i found it very dificult. is The Bliss of Inner Fire: Heart Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa easier to get through? I have been reading a bit about naropa, but only the text about his life, nothing about the six yogas.

Do you mind elaborating? I don't really understand what you mean.

Score Not sure the illness was a catalyst, maybe. It did cause me to lay down my current practice, which I now with the amazing power of hindsight and deduction made me a bit too yang. But the illness of itself was just a really aggressive cold that bit it's way past all my safety-nets. The meditative process was as such: 1 First there was a large expansion, starting from the heart. Light was taken in from baihui with every breath, accompanied with feelings of joy, calm, and peace. This light was then allowed to expand out from the body, encompassing the mind, body, emotions, thoughts, everything. The body should then be experienced as expanding into everything, until everything is seen as one point. This was followed by a rather diffuse experience, where all occurrences are a serious of dots connected by black mass. Through the mass and dots travels white light. In my vision this was interaction between yin and yang, shown over another half hour of meditation through different changes between the mass and light. This created a strong realization that everything is yin and yang, and that dao is the balanced process. "Dao is one yin and one yang". 2 Through this process of transformations made by yin and yang, which was basically observing the rise and fall until it stopped rising and falling, came a great emptiness. The body disappeared, and I was free to feel around everything's yin and yang. By yin connection with the greater yin, it was boundless, and by yang connection with the greater yang it was boundless. At this point I thought "is this it? All is yin and yang? I'll cast everything away, if I can experience what is beyond this!" 3 By deciding to cast myself away, something crazy happened, which was very akin to the mingling of the red and white drops, I think it's been talked about here before, an experience described in mahamudra buddhism. Except before when I've experienced it, the "winds" have only entered at one point. This time it was like aronud 10 places along my spine/head/thorax opened up, like someone twisted a really tightly shut tap. Like a wheel being turned. Obviously, there was a near chaotic rush, and something very strong started pressing against my baihui. When I got my focus back, I let myself go again. This time it was like all of me was sucked out the top of my head, all my essence and energy. Before when this has happened, there have been drops of white descending into the heart and abdomen one at a time. This has been accompanied with a great rush of energy, along with a strong sexual arousal. Then, I have always been afraid to go past the point where I am so filled with drops that I start giving away parts of myself. This time, it all left, since I had no concern. As a result, I was filled with a much clearer light, and I truly felt boundless. 4 This is when the strange dantian filling came around. I was sitting enjoying my calm, unmoved by everything around me, when suddenly something stabs my abdomen, followed by wild shakes and trembles in the dantian, until it fills up real sudden and solidly. My whole energy body felt like an eggshell around me after that. And that's it. In as few words as I could manage. Any wisdom to share?

oh, and i'll gladly share a recollection of the meditation process, if anybody's interested.

I can really identify myself with that. I'm starting to come out of a four month period where I would be so angry that my head would spin as soon as I was bothered by anything, and as time went it became more and more apparent that it had to do with the fact that after training my head was clear from everything blocking my emotions, and I was actually feeling what I was feeling. Getting easier now, I've come to terms with much of the reality I've been keeping at bay, but I'm guessing that just means that there will soon be something new to shake me. The important thing is to not get scared and back out of training. There's nothing wrong with getting angry, sad, extatic or frightened, as long as it is only temporary. I started out doing it like lam kam chuen said in the book, but after a while i substituted baduanjin for a neigung routine. 10-15 minutes holding the ball. Afterwards I do taiji and sitting meditation.

I was down to the closest tea-specialist shop I knew of, but it turned out they were sri-lankan and had redressed themselves to mainly deal in spices, so whilst I got a hold of a pu erh and two different green jasmine teas, I wasn't pleased with them. The jasmine teas were good, but had a bitterness come through, the subtle sweetness and long shy flavour wasn't there. I really enjoyed the pu erh though, even though it was a 5-dollar cheap version, wrapped in paper and shaped like a mushroom-head, not in a neat little box-y thing like some of you put up photos of. However, later that evening a friend came over with a real nice white jasmine tea that was pretty close to what i'm searching for, although what I want to find has more flavour. This jasmine had a real great taste though. No blended flavours, nothing taking over, just a prolonged very silent and calm flavour. Like it slowed everything down. It had some "spirit of jasmine", which I think is a marker of a real good tea. My friend told me that it was bought at a newly opened chinese tea specialist, and that it was real pricey, so my search can continue again! ...and I think I'm going to brew myself some of that 5-dollar pu erh now, to put a linger on my tastebuds! edit; I got the address of the tea-house my friend got the jasmine from, and it seems real good! I'm definitely going there tomorrow to pick up some pu er, white jasmine, long jing, and maybe even a 70-dollar oolong if I can stomach it! I'm a bit intent on getting a glass tea-pot too, it looks like the shizzle... I'll write here how they were after I've had a tea-tasting frenzy. There was also online ordering, if any bum is interested in ordering some seemingly awesome organic, and hopefully rightly expensive, teas. The tea-master there seems to make a point of only selling the best stuff from the right provinces.

Well, I have been inspired by all this tea-talk! I'm going to go on a search for the most amazing tea I ever drank, which was a Jasmine tea I had at a semi-random encounter with a chinese doctor in his clinic. We drank tea from the same two Jasmine flowers a total of 8 times while I was there, and the taste never diminished. It was great, so to the point that no matter how I try, I still can't drink Jasmine tea because nothing is even remotely close to that good, nothing I have gotten my hands on. Luckily there's a real serious tea-nerd-run shop within an hour from me where I'm sure I can find a proper Jasmine tea, and I think I'm going to try some other chinese teas as well. I'm deinitely interested in Pu Erh after all this talk of it. I usually only drink herbal teas picked by myself, I don't ever drink teas with caffeine in them. My favourite is probably a mix of mints with liquorice root, nettle, and calendula. yums! I wish I could get a hold on fresh eucalyptus and misteltoe, those are great in teas! Along with Malva and some honey it's a great ease for colds, and real tasty of course. Also, self-picked in the forest and hills (and garden, of course) should take the price for the el-cheapo challenge. There's nothing that can beat it in reshness and cheapness.

Have you tried, when feeling the "physical stirring of your loin", to lead that energy down rather than up? in my (limited)experience that energy, when collected in the head, is too volatile, and leads to anger, confusion, and short temper. Better to lead the sexual energy, which as I've understood it is of a heavy nature, downwards into the earth if you are bothered by it. Otherwise you will have to spend a lot of time cooling yourself off, if you don't want to start getting easily distracted from practice by emotion, and of course there's the risk of nocturnal ejaculation if the mind is too wandering. Of course, I say this to relay my own experience, and not to criticise your practice (of which you've told us the equivalent of nil). Good luck.

New progress; Did the meditation, progressed onwards to lead the light down into the LDT. There I stayed for a little while. I felt a connection between the LDT and ancestral palace, and I was "dragged into" the palace. There I became part of the emptiness, everything became nothing, everything melted away. In that state, I saw above me a white drop or seed. It descended down through the center of my body and into the LDT, where it exploded out in light and what I can only describe as bliss. this continued for 30-40 breaths, with one falling down for each exhalation. The emptiness, stillness and bliss became greater with each drop, and time and space continued fading out. afterwards... reeeeal energetic, and the term bodhicitta came back into my mind.

Awesome! reading this really re-fuels my wish to go there...

Congratulations Eric! Having a book on Taoist health techniques published in China sounds like a real approval!

That's very interesting about the elements! I practiced Franz Bardon's system/book "initiation into hermetics" for a number of years, but stopped around chapter 5 because I felt I was getting ahead of myself. I however go back and reaffirm the basics in chapters 1-3 once a year to make sure I can take the practice back up when I feel like it. I will have to take a look at his book (and yours too, for that matter) again with this correspondence between the elements in mind.

Ooh, sounds interesting. I've never though about that, except when meditating I usually set my vision up a bit because I feel "heavier" the more down I look. It sounds like the temperaments you describe could quite easily be applied to the bagua.